🇹🇷 The President of Turkiye held a huge rally in Istanbul

A week before the presidential elections in Turkiye, the country's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, held a large gathering, in which 1.7 million people participated.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Ominous omen from 'Oracle of Omaha'? Buffett unloads billions in US stocks, warns of AI 'atom bomb'

92-year-old financier Warren Buffett's hedge fund Berkshire Hathaway is retreating from the US financial market, selling over $13.3 billion in stocks and buying only $2.9 billion worth in the first quarter of 2023.

The fund reported net earnings of $35.5 billion and is holding a portfolio of $328 billion. Buffett expressed concerns about bank failures, the complexity of the banking sector, and the rise of artificial intelligence, comparing it to the atomic bomb.

He called for a resolution of US-China tensions and criticized excessive money printing by the US government. Buffett dismissed digital currencies like Bitcoin as "toys."

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

#Sputnik_reminder

📜🖋 India commemorates Rabindranath Tagore on his birthday anniversary

▪️ Rabindranath Tagore (or Thakur) is a Bengali polymath who is known all over the world primarily for his literature works. He is also famous and praised for being the first non-European and the first lyricist to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

▪️ Rabindranath Tagore, the youngest of 13 surviving children, was born into a family of philosophers, scientists and artists who were at the forefront of the Bengal renaissance. He started writing at the age of eight and was awarded the Nobel Prize for his collection of poems called ‘Gitanjali’.

▪️ He also established the Vishva-Bharati University in West Bengal, which is located in Shantiniketan – the place where Rabindranath Tagore lived.

Subscribe to @sputniknewsindia

If China ditches dollar amid 'emerging new trade order,' consequences for US 'could be stark'

“We are for de-risking and diversifying, not looking to decouple,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said at the Brookings Institution in late April, in reference to China’s economy.

However, the report underlined that imports of consumer goods by the US plunged 20.6 percent year-on-year in the first three months of this year. If the decline trend continues, it will, in turn, "accelerate the global de-dollarization trend," warned the publication.

Indeed, de-dollarization is becoming a trend, as the world’s reserve currency is fast losing its luster. Moscow has adopted the yuan as a reserve currency, while pledging to use the Chinese means of payment "between Russia and countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America." China and Brazil recently struck an agreement to carry out trade and financial transactions directly, exchanging yuan for reals.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🌍 African Free Trade Area Could Lift up to 50 Mln People Out of Extreme Poverty, IMF Says

▪️Africa’s continent-wide free trade area, if successfully implemented, could accelerate economic growth and enhance living standards at a time of rising geopolitical tensions and climate change, the International Monetary Fund said in its report

▪️According to the IMF, for a trade zone to be successful, it must be supported by a number of reforms, such as large cuts in tariff and nontariff trade barriers among African nations.

💬 "If accompanied by complementary improvements in the trade environment, the median merchandise trade flow between African economies would rise by 53% and with the rest of the world by 15%, raising real GDP per capita in the median country by more than 10%," the IMF predicted. "World Bank estimates of a broadly similar growth scenario suggest that this would help 30–50 million people in Africa emerge from extreme poverty"

👉 READ THE FULL STORY

Subscribe to @sputnik_africa

Russian politician Prilepin says he drove car during blast

"Sasha [Alexander Shubin] was on the right in a passenger seat. I was driving. The explosion happened under his wheel. I lost consciousness for three minutes, came round and crawled up to the broken windshield," Russian politician and writer Zakhar Prilepin said on Telegram.

He added that he had both legs broken in the blast, with one open fracture, as well as other injuries.

Prilepin also specified that two mines had been planted at the scene, but only one had detonated.

On Saturday, Prilepin's car was blown up on a highway in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod Region. His deceased associate Alexander Shubin was killed, while Prilepin was injured.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Robert Kennedy Jr, the nephew of the 35th US president John F. Kennedy, said CIA was involved in the 1963 assassination of the head of state

"There is overwhelming evidence that the CIA was involved in his murder. I think it’s beyond a reasonable doubt at this point," the US media quoted him as saying while referencing James Douglas' book, "JFK and the Unspeakable".

According to Kennedy Jr, the US intelligence agency was not only involved in the assassination but also in "the cover-up" of the crime.

Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas on November 22, 1963. An investigation determined that the assassination was carried out by Lee Harvey Oswald, who acted alone as stated in The Warren Commission Report of 1964. 

On the CIA website, the agency calls an article linking the agency to JFK's assassination a "lie."

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The stabilization of US-China relations should be a priority after Washington disrupted the positive momentum achieved during the meeting between the leaders of the two countries in Bali

"In November of last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden held successful talks on the island of Bali and reached important consensuses. However, since then, a series of misguided actions and statements by the American side have disrupted the hard-won positive momentum in bilateral relations, relations between the countries have again hit the ice," Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said.

Gang also called on Washington to stop supporting separatist forces in Taiwan. "[The US] should properly approach the Taiwan issue … stop supporting and condoning the separatist forces of 'Taiwan independence'".

The foreign minister also pointed out to Washington the need to respect China's "red lines" and stop violating its sovereignty, security and development interests.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇸🇩 Talks between Sudan’s armed forces, RSF to continue in coming days

▪️The talks underway in the Saudi city of Jeddah between the Sudanese regular armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) will continue until the conflicting sides agree on a temporary ceasefire, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.

▪️It was noted that the sides commenced pre-negotiation talks in Jeddah on May 6.

🗣"The talks continued on May 7 and will continue in the coming days in the expectation of reaching an effective short-term ceasefire to facilitate humanitarian assistance," the foreign ministry said on Sunday.

▪️The Saudi foreign ministry specified that the conflicting sides had already started discussing security measures needed to facilitate the delivery of emergency humanitarian assistance to the Sudanese people and the restoration of essential services

Subscribe to @sputnik_africa

📹 Footage showing the combat work of the crews of Giatsint-B 152-mm towed guns

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Tucker Carlson is preparing for a crackdown on his former network 

Fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson is preparing for a crackdown on his former network as he mulls making his next career move, a US media outlet has cited unnamed sources as saying.

The sources claimed that Carlson’s allies at rival news platforms are “coming to him and saying, ‘Do you want me to hit Fox?’,” and that he allegedly answers, "No I want to get this done quiet and clean."

“Now, we're going from peace time to Defcon [defense condition] 1. His [Carlson’s] team is preparing for war. He wants his freedom,” one of the insiders argued.

Another source asserted that the ex-Fox News host “knows where a lot of bodies are buried, and is ready to start drawing a map.”

The US media outlet recalled in this regard that Carlson's contract at Fox News, in which he was paid $20 million a year, expires in January 2025. He is still being paid and therefore is prohibited from joining a rival network or starting his own.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russia welcomes the resumption of Syria’s participation in the work of the League of Arab States

"Moscow welcomes this long-awaited step, which has become a logical result of the process of returning Syria to the ‘Arab family’ that has gained momentum. For our part, in contact with the Arab capitals, we consistently called on them to restore full-fledged relations with Damascus," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

She added that the resumption of Syria's participation in the work of the Arab League, of which it is one of the founding states, will help improve the atmosphere in the Middle East region.

Zakharova expressed hope that LAS will support Syria in its post-conflict reconstruction, which is complicated by the illegitimate unilateral sanctions against Damascus.

On Sunday, LAS foreign ministers announced that Syria was returning to the organization.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ Detainee charged with terrorism for attempted assassination of politician and writer Zakhar Prilepin - Russia's Investigative Committee

The trade relations between Russia and China are open and fair and do not target any third countries

"Trade and economic relations between Russia and China are fair and transparent, they are not targeting third countries and are not subject to a third-party interference and coercion," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Monday, referring to possible EU sanctions against Chinese firms.

On Sunday, media reported that the European Union might for the first time impose sanctions against Chinese companies, which were allegedly selling military equipment to Russia amid Moscow's ongoing special operation in Ukraine.

The spokesman added that in case the bloc applies sanctions against the Chinese entities, the move could "seriously violate trust and cooperation with China, exacerbate division and confrontation in the world."

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has commented on the words of the head of intelligence of Ukraine Budanov, who recently called for the killing of Russians: this is a monstrous statement

Russia strongly condemns the words of the head of the Ukrainian military intelligence Budanov; our special services will do everything to protect Russians, said Peskov.

He added that these statements by Budanov confirmed the correctness of Putin's decision to launch the special military operation.

This is direct confirmation that the Kiev regime is not just a sponsor, but also an organizer of terrorist activity, Peskov said.

The Kremlin spokesman added that Moscow would closely monitor the reaction of the countries of the world to these statements by the Kiev regime, including the United States.

Russia and India collaborate on new military-tech project

As part of developing hypersonic cruise missile (HCM) capabilities in India, India 🇮🇳 and Russia 🇷🇺 are trying to pursue the BrahMos-2 project, which will be based on Russia's Zircon HCM.

🚀 A Russian hypersonic anti-ship missile is being developed by NPO Mashinostroeniya.

Subscribe to @sputniknewsindia for more defence updates

Polish oil firm Orlen says ban on Russian oil causes $27mln losses per day

Daniel Obajtek, the chief executive of Polish state-owned oil company Orlen, told a British business daily on Sunday that the ban on Russian crude oil was costing the firm around $27 million in losses per day due to a price difference of nearly $30 per barrel between Russian supplies and their alternatives.

At the same time, the Polish businessman himself did not call it a loss, but rather "a matter of not supporting Russia."

However, he reportedly admitted that Orlen was still using Russian oil supplied via the Druzhba pipeline at the company's refinery in the Czech town of Litvinov.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 The Russian Armed Forces have stormed a building near a medical school in the west of Artemovsk (Bakhmut)

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russian Su-34 bomber strikes foreign mercenaries in Kharkov region

A Russian Su-34 frontline bomber has struck the deployment point of foreign mercenaries in the Kharkov region with guided bombs, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson told Sputnik.

"The crew of a Su-34 fighter-bomber, using universal modules for planning and correcting aerial bombs, struck at a temporary deployment point of foreign mercenaries near the village of Ivanovka [Ivanivka]," the spokesperson said.

In addition, in the LPR, Russian forces have located and destroyed two Ukrainian sabotage reconnaissance groups and have thwarted three attempts of enemy troop rotation, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also told Sputnik that a combat vehicle of the Osa anti-aircraft missile system was destroyed using the Lancet precision loitering munition near the village of Velykyi Burluk. An Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer used by Ukrainian troops was also destroyed by Russian forces.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Russian MoD briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️ Russian assault units continue to attack in the western part of Artemovsk;

▪️ Russian troops in the LPR destroyed up to 55 Ukrainian soldiers, three tanks and five armored vehicles;

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces destroyed two ammunition depots of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the DPR and the Zaporozhye region;

▪️ Russian troops destroyed up to 70 Ukrainian military in the south of the DPR and in the Zaporozhye region;

▪️ Russian troops destroyed up to 70 military units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Krasny Liman in a day;

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces destroyed two Ukrainian ammunition depots in the DPR;

▪️ Russian troops in the DPR destroyed more than 380 soldiers and three howitzers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces;

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces in the Kharkov region hit a warehouse with weapons and military equipment of a group of troops of the Ukrainian Armed Forces;

▪️ Russian air defense systems destroyed 15 Ukrainian UAVs in a day.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The little elephant and his love of fruit

Have you ever seen a small elephant 🐘 that is so stubborn that it stands on its hind legs to get fruit it desires from a 🌳 tree? This hilarious scene is quite common in the wild.

Young elephants love to eat fruit 🥭 and berries, and their appetite sometimes reaches such proportions that they use every possible means to get to their food.

Subscribe to @sputniknewsindia